Wellbeing MATTERS!

Dear Families,

Week 6 and the students are back on-site at school, in their classroom - learning and the playground - socialising with their friends - just as it should be!

As the staff at Sacred Heart we all sincerely hope that we will continue to welcome students to school and in our classrooms we continue to provide the learning for our students. Staff are very mindful of the effects that “lockdown” can have on the students and how we can continue to support them to be the best they can be in a safe and nurturing environment. Our focus is clearly on the positives and keeping school predictable and safe for each of our students. We continue to look forward and to try our best to provide the events and experiences that have been planned - whether it’s having to postpone an event or changing the format of an event - staff are continually looking for ways to go forward.

Our student’s self-confidence is intrinsically linked to their learning. We all want our students/children to develop a strong sense of self-confidence and many of us already use encouragement to do this. It is a great strategy to boost their self-confidence. Encouragement focuses on what each child does and how they do things. Here are a few ways to encourage your child:

Focus on improvement in any skill: “You really have picked up on your reading.” You can always point out improvements no matter how small.
Highlight their efforts “I can see you really tried hard to get it right.”
Comment on their contribution: “I really appreciate your help with cleaning the house. It makes my job easier.” Everyone, including our children, likes to know when they’re appreciated.
Focus on enjoyment they get from an activity: “It’s great to see you enjoying your ballet or football.” Highlighting fun and enjoyment is great when you want to remove the focus from the scoreboard.
Show your confidence: “I know you can do this. You’ve tackled hard stuff like this in the past, and you can do it again.” Communicate your confidence through your words, as well as your actions.

Promoting your child’s self-confidence is a great thing to do at any time but never more so now with the uncertainty we face with COVID-19. It can be a great tool to help your child “weather’ these times and become more self-confident and resilient in themselves.

Here is a link to an e-book titled, COVID: WHAT CAN KIDS DO? This book comes free from WORLD BOOK. Read what you can do to get through the pandemic while learning the dos and don’ts to help you and your family stay safe.

RESOURCE:

Here’s another great resource from ‘Generation Next’ - a podcast with Andrew Fuller, titled, A Practical Approach to Executive Functions for Wellbeing and Learning.

In this episode Andrew covers:

Executive functions - what are they?
How executive functions relate to wellbeing and learning
Implications to start seriously and dynamically developing these skills in schools

Andrew’s guest is Estee Stephenson, Head of Gifted Education, St Andrew’s Cathedral School

(20mins)

Please feel free to contact me if you have any concerns or queries.

Debbie Turvey

Pastoral Wellbeing & Learning Diversity Leader

dturvey@shtatura.catholic.edu.au

(03) 5824 1841

Stay tuned in our school newsletter for more ideas and conversations around promoting wellbeing and learning in our school community.

Have a great week, make the choice, be your best!